by Amber Lynn
“I can see why you’d think the male escort behind you would be fun to play with for a little while, but Aaron is planning on proposing to you this weekend. I told you you were crazy to think that man doesn’t love you. Clearly he has some flaws and issues you two need to work out, but you can’t throw away a good thing for a tiny mistake.”
It was hard to imagine that Reid could see more red than he had at dinner with Ted Murphy practically slobbering all over Sarah, but her friend really did take the cake. Granted, he’d already noted that they probably hadn’t spoken since things had been fleshed out a little more between Reid and Sarah, but the woman knew Sarah was looking for a replacement for Aaron in the wedding and she knew the reasons behind it.
He didn’t really care that she thought he was being paid to be there. May thinking that did make it a little clearer where Sarah got some of her insecurities, but it was her insistence that Sarah and Aaron were getting back together that pissed Reid off. Sarah again beat him to the punch as far as giving a response, which was probably for the best.
“Reid is not some kind of male escort I found and paid to be here. He turned down a deal last night that had to be worth at least six figures because of how Mr. Murphy treated me. You remember Tina’s dad, don’t you?”
There seemed to be some significance in the tone used to say Tina’s dad that Reid could only make assumptions from. They hadn’t talked about how much money the endorsement was for, but Sarah was on the right track of the dollars being thrown around. Evidently, she wasn’t done with the speech, because after a quick deep breath, she started back up.
“I bet if Aaron had been in that same situation, he would’ve stood back and let the old creep take a stab at me to make sure the deal was signed. Reid barely knows me and was there protecting me. If you think for a second I want to go back to someone who’s idea of a relationship involves him having someone on the side for the entire relationship, I don’t know why we’re friends.”
That was the question on Reid’s mind. He felt it was good that everything was coming out, but his part of the fallout wasn’t comfortable, and neither was the fact that it was happening in the middle of a store. Sarah tried to keep her voice calm and under a certain decibel level, but the more aggravated she became, the louder she got.
“You’re an athlete of some sort.”
May’s words weren’t really a question. If she knew who the Mr. Murphy being referenced was, she probably knew just as quickly as Sarah what the dinner was about. The revelation didn’t take away the angry look that seemed to be permanently etched on her face.
Before anyone could affirm or deny the claim, a tall skinny guy dressed in a suit showed up with a big smile on his face. Even without the name tag indicating he worked there, Reid could tell he wanted to sell someone something.
“So nice to see you again, May. What can we do for you today?”
The silence between the more or less feuding sides remained for a second as May continued her attempt to stare Reid into some kind of submission. She was slightly scary, but Reid skated across from full-grown men who hit him with the force of a Mack truck, so she wasn’t going to intimidate him.
It was actually Sarah who ended up speaking. Her words were directed at May, not as a response to the man hoping to make some money.
“You said he was planning on proposing this weekend. Does that mean he’s coming to the wedding?”
Reid had assumed that if he was filling in for the groomsman position, that meant Aaron wasn’t going to be there. Sarah knew both May and Aaron a whole lot better than he did, so she knew the interworking of both of their crazy minds. Reid had a sinking feeling in his stomach that she picked up on something. May’s angry look morphing into a little defiance helped seal the feeling.
“You aren’t supposed to know, and you can’t tell him I told you. He’s got this big thing planned, and the ring. Oh my god, it’s beautiful, Sarah. You’re going to love it and when you say yes, everything will be back on track. You can move back in and pick up right where you two left off. Forget about sex on a stick over there and just do what’s right.”
It was abundantly clear to Reid that the woman was delusional. She tried to share her enthusiasm by stepping forward and reaching out to Sarah, but Sarah pushed back against Reid to try to get away from her. Reid took that as a sign to take a couple steps back, bringing Sarah with him. He hated not seeing Sarah’s face, but he could visualize the confusion and hurt that had to be going through her head.
“Tell June I’m sorry, but I’m not coming to the wedding.”
Sarah quickly turned in Reid’s arms so she was free to walk around him towards the door. Giving May one more scathing look, Reid was quick to follow after the woman who’d been betrayed by her best friend. He would have suffered through the tux fitting and whatever other tortures were in store for him around May, but he was happy he didn’t have to.
“Hey, wait up,” he called as soon as he got outside and saw Sarah walking in the opposite direction of the car.
Her steps were too determined to be aimlessly walking around. She was stomping and trying to get as far away as fast as she could without actually running. At least that’s what Reid picked up from her cute boots clopping loudly whenever they made contact with the cement.
“My apartment is only a mile away. I figure I can walk so you can get back to your regularly scheduled life.”
Her words faltered at the end. He was only four or five steps behind her, so Reid didn’t miss the first sob as she started to break down.
“Hey,” he said, quickening his pace so he could wrap her in his arms.
She tried to keep going, but he was strong enough to keep her in place. They’d parked on the street about a block away from the shop, so they needed to do some backtracking to get out of there. Reid didn’t want to walk back in front of the shop, because he didn’t want to deal with the princess if she came out looking for a fight, but he did want to get Sarah back to her apartment to limit the people gawking at them as they walked by. They evidently didn’t take his scowl to mean they should stop looking.
“Let’s walk around the block and get back to the car so we can talk. I can carry you if you want to bury your head on my shoulder and get it all out.”
By that point, Reid had gotten Sarah turned around and he could see the way her tears made her face look a little like a tomato. She wasn’t a pretty crier, not that Reid had ever met anyone who was. He didn’t deal with much crying in his life. It didn’t scare him away from the situation any more than May’s glares had. If nothing else, Sarah needed someone in her life to protect her from the idiots trying to control her.
“You don’t have to do that. I had a feeling she’d try to get her claws into you. I just didn’t think she’d go to the level where she tried to prove how inadequate I am.”
Reid’s forehead scrunched as he tried to make sense of the muffled words. Even though Sarah had told him he could be on his way, her face buried into his shirt as soon as she saw him looking at her. He preferred her holding on to him than running away.
“I’m not sure I follow. Look, I’m hoping to get out of here without another run-in, so hold on.”
He reached down and grabbed her thighs so he could lift her up and start walking. Even with the warning, Sarah gasped at the sudden movement. Like the night before when he’d taken her on the ice, she was quick to wrap her legs around him.
“So,” he started as he took the first step the long way around to the car, “just to be clear, nothing your friend back there said made me think any less about you. It made me think you do a crappy job of picking out friends, but that doesn’t change my opinion of you as a person.”
Sarah scoffed and wiggled in his arms as she got a better grip with her arms around his neck and laid her head sort of on his shoulder. It was technically on her arm since it was in the way, but close enough.
“My best friend thinks I should settle for a guy who I don’t think can be fa
ithful and she believes I had to buy you to get you to spend time with me. I’ve known her for about a decade, so I’m pretty sure she has a good handle on my situation.”
“No, she doesn’t. You and I both know that I’m not here because you’re paying me. It started out that we were doing each other favors, but my favor turned out to be a bust and yours seems to be in the tank as well.”
The idea that they were done with favors and starting fresh made Reid breathe easier. He didn’t have a problem with weddings, but meeting May had made him dread spending an entire day with her.
“Which means there’s no reason for you to show me pity anymore. You’re free to go back to your exciting life of trying to bat your female fans away with hockey sticks and let me get back to my boring life of writing.”
“If I didn’t like you, I’d drop you on the ground right now for saying that. As it is, I think you’re going to need another spanking. The only good thing about meeting May was that I know why you’re like this. It’s got to be hard to believe in yourself when they’ve got you convinced you’re not good enough.”
“I’m not good enough. The only thing I’ve ever been halfway decent at is writing and currently I’m in a dry spell as far as ideas. I’m supposed to turn in three chapters by the end of next week and I can’t get one chapter done.”
Reid felt her legs kick against her back and got the feeling she was throwing her own little pity party. It sounded like she hit a little bump in the road, but it didn’t sound like it was the end of the road. Her crying seemed like it had turned to sniffles over actual tears, which he hoped meant the rest of the day wouldn’t be spent in a pile of tissues.
“I’m surprised you can concentrate to write at all. After tonight’s game, which I’m hoping you’re still coming to, I have to go on the road for a couple of days and I’m thinking you should hop on a plane and come with me. We’ve got two games in Florida before coming back Friday.”
He couldn’t really opt out of the road trip, and he didn’t want to leave Sarah alone to deal with the crazy people in her life by herself. He was afraid he’d come back to find her married.
Sarah straightened up and looked down at him. The position made it a little hard to walk and see around her, but Reid could see the car after their loop around the block and hoped no one would get in their way.
“You want me to go to Florida with you?”
The disbelief was visible in her puffy eyes. It was hazardous to both of their health, but he leaned down a caught her lips with his. It seemed to work in his favor to show Sarah things with actions rather than just relying on his words. Since he didn’t stop walking and had to leave his eyes open because of that, he kept the kiss short.
They were at the car, so he repositioned his hands to hold Sarah up with only one of them as the other reached for the key in his pocket. With the door unlocked, he opened it and bent inside of it so he could get Sarah tucked into her spot. He still owed her an answer, but he wanted to get them on the road as quickly as possible. When he was in the driver’s seat and had the car going, he let out a small sigh.
“Yes, I want you to come with me. I’ll have to work out the travel and hotel room, but I don’t see either of those being an issue. You probably won’t be able to fly with the team because of some restrictions they have, but I’ll get you the tickets you need and make sure I’m at the airports when you are to get you where you need to go.”
“Won’t you be too busy with the team?”
“I’ll have practices and the games, but I usually just hang out in my hotel room most of the time. I know it doesn’t seem like I spend all my time focusing on hockey, but that has been my life. I’m thinking while I’m doing the little I have to other than the games with the team, you could maybe spend the time working on the writer’s block you think you have.”
Sarah needed a change of scenery, even if it was just for a short time. Reid wished it was closer to the offseason so they could plan a real little vacation getaway, but that would have to wait a few months. It was a little weird that he was planning for them to be together months down the road, but he thought it spoke to how much he already liked the woman sitting next to him.
“And the hotel room? I’m guess that’s not going to be shared if there are some kind of rules about me flying with you.”
“The hotel rooms will be separate because I room with Nico on the road and I don’t want him to cry if I tell him I’m rooming with you. By the way, I know it sounds like I’m making all sorts of decisions for you, but I think maybe you should stay over with us tonight. I’m worried about what May and Aaron might cook up and I really don’t think you should be alone.”
Reid would’ve suggested that he stayed over at her place, but Sarah only had the single bed and she was too vulnerable. At his place, there was an empty couch for him to sleep on while she took his bed.
“Well,” Sarah said after thinking for a minute. “So far you haven’t steered me wrong and at the present moment you seem to be the only person I know who sounds like they’re looking out for me. So, let’s do it.”
Chapter Eleven
Sarah had made a lot of mistakes in her life. It seemed picking a best friend and first serious boyfriend were up there at the top of the list. She figured it was only a matter of time before she knew where running off to Florida with Reid would rank. She felt like she knew him on some level better than she knew anyone else, but the fact remained they were still getting to know each other.
He’d been remarkable the day before, but once she started spending time with him and his teammates, the inadequacies that May had tried to point out were bound to rear their ugly heads. Nico had been curious about her the night before, just as she’d been curious about him.
She’d proven that she was shy, sticking close to Reid’s side and only answering when spoken to. It was one thing to blurt things out when it was just Reid, who made her feel comfortable, but she wasn’t sure about the man with the heavy Russian accent. He seemed nice enough, even joking with her about Reid’s habit of leaving the cap off the toothpaste.
The banter between the two of them was fun to watch. She was hoping they hadn’t used it to lull her into compliance while they put her on a plane that morning. She didn’t have the time or the temperament for a wild goose chase. The flight was direct, but they claimed their flight leaving thirty minutes later would beat hers.
She pulled her carry-on behind her as she made her way to find them, since they both claimed they’d be there waiting for her. Sarah wasn’t sure why Nico jumped on the bandwagon of helping her enjoy the short vacation, but she was willing to see how long he’d hang with them before he ran off. After a racy dream she’d had the night before during some restless sleeping, she hoped Nico was quick to find something else to do.
Sarah found herself walking on her toes as she tried to look around people the closer she got to security. The guys’ plane landed at the airport, but they didn’t get off at one of the gates. Evidently they unloaded where they landed, which meant they had to run around and get into the airport if they were going to find her.
“Sarah.”
She heard Reid’s voice hollering at her, but she couldn’t see him over or around the tall guy in front of her. Stepping to the side, she tried to get a better look, but everyone from at least ten planes had to be funneling in front of her. She didn’t know what was up ahead, just that people had been spread out a little more and all of a sudden they narrowed.
“Reid?” she called back, feeling a little weird doing so.
She kept walking as she danced around and tried to see where he was in the crowd. He was a full head taller than her, so chances were he could make out at least her red hair that she’d pulled back into a ponytail. She didn’t see any other redheads in the herd, so he had an advantage.
“Yes?”
The response came from right next to her, which made her jump. She turned quickly and almost lost her balance as she bumped into someone o
n the other side of her.
“Careful, chickie,” Nico said as he kept her from falling.
She’d seen Reid walking next to her before Nico caught her, but hearing his voice from the opposite side was just as disorientating. When Reid had called to her, she’d sworn he was in front of her.
“You walked by us, silly.” Reid reached down and grabbed Sarah’s right hand, pulling her away from Nico. “Was your flight okay?”
The guys kept Sarah moving with traffic, even though she wanted to stop and make sense of them appearing out of nowhere. She couldn’t believe she’d trotted by them without seeing them. She’d made it past the security checkpoint, but she didn’t think she was to the point where crowds of people were waiting for the people who had recently landed.
“You didn’t have to put me in first-class. I saw plenty of seats open in economy.”
It had been the first time Sarah had ever sat in the comfy seats in the front of the plane and she’d felt a little self-conscious about it the whole time. She’d had a whole row to herself, which made it easy for her to relax and even get a little writing in. There still wasn’t a chapter done, but the experience did give Sarah some ideas about her characters jet-setting for a quick romantic getaway. She just had to write the chapters leading up to the adventure.
“You wait to see fancy hotel room he got for you. I doubt he spend much time cramped up in our room when you have big Jacuzzi in yours.”
Sarah glanced over at Nico and then looked to the man she’d let do all the vacation planning. She had tried to tell him she’d pay for the travel and hotel, even though he’d said from the start he would. It was almost like she was talking to a brick wall, because he’d have nothing to do with the idea of her paying. She knew he had money based on his admission of a seven-figure salary, but that didn’t mean he had to fly her around first-class and pamper her.